Justice News

Alabama Resident Pleads Guilty in Stolen Identity Refund Fraud Scheme

Today, Bridgette Rivers, a resident of Montgomery, Ala., pleaded guilty to her involvement in a conspiracy to use stolen identities to file fraudulent tax returns, the Justice Department and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced today.

According to the court documents, Rivers provided identity information to her co-conspirators, Barbara Murry, Veronica Temple and Yolanda Moses. Those co-conspirators used these stolen identities and others to file false tax returns that fraudulently requested tax refunds from the IRS. Rivers also recruited another individual to provide her bank account information to the conspiracy. The fraudulently obtained tax refunds went into that individual’s bank account and the individual would then withdraw the money to give to Rivers.

This case was investigated by special agents of IRS - Criminal Investigation. Trial Attorneys Michael Boteler and Jason Poole of the Justice Department’s Tax Division are prosecuting the case, with the assistance from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Alabama and, in particular, Assistant U.S. Attorney Todd Brown.

Additional information about the Tax Division and its enforcement efforts may be found at www.justice.gov/tax.